------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: All Subject: The Media Monopoly Date: Fri Aug 04 06:53:41 CDT 1995 Message number: 1 Reply to message number: unavailable The name "The Media Monopoly" is taken from a book by Ben Bagdikian, who has been tracking the accumulation of the media over the last few years. The media, in this case, refers to all forms: newspapers, magazines, music, movies and TV. The media has been consolidated to the point where about 15 companies own 90% of the media outlets in this country. Is this healthy? This base, then, is a place to discuss the media in general; and more specifically, why the mass media may not be as unbiased and friendly as some would like us to beleive. A recent example of this would be the recent merger of Disney and the ABC television network. Do you think that this merger was healthy, or will Disney tone down ABC television and turn it into another family-friendly (and boring) network? --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DARKSHINE To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: The Media Monopoly Date: Sat Aug 12 00:38:10 CDT 1995 Message number: 2 Reply to message number: 1 DR> A recent example of this would be the recent merger of Disney and the ABC DR> television network. Do you think that this merger was healthy, or will Disn DR> tone down ABC television and turn it into another family-friendly (and bori DR> network? All the major networks, with the possible exception of FOX, are already boring. |05 . ś . ś . |05 ®(š=-Darkshine-=š)Æ |05 ł . ł . ł --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: Darkshine Subject: Re: The Media Monopoly Date: Sat Aug 12 17:07:12 CDT 1995 Message number: 3 Reply to message number: 2 D> All the major networks, with the possible exception of FOX, are already D> boring. How could you possibly call CBS and Dan Rather boring? Why, just the other day he smiled amiably in front of the camera. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FROGGY To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: The Media Monopoly Date: Sat Aug 12 17:18:35 CDT 1995 Message number: 4 Reply to message number: 3 DR> How could you possibly call CBS and Dan Rather boring? DR> DR> Why, just the other day he smiled amiably in front of the camera. DR> Actually, he was sort of interesting on the David Letterman show the other night. I didn't know he could dance. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: All Subject: Your own network Date: Wed Aug 16 18:43:03 CDT 1995 Message number: 5 Reply to message number: unavailable So most of the media's owned by a few white, conservative males. Most people don't lose sleep over it. But what would you do differently if you owned your own television network? (and no, another home shopping network isn't kosher). --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: SAINT VITUS To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: Your own network Date: Wed Aug 23 10:20:49 CDT 1995 Message number: 6 Reply to message number: 5 DR> But what would you do differently if you owned your own television network DR> (and no, another home shopping network isn't kosher). Really, there is no way to "own" a network, without being "owned" in turn by your sponsors. Being a network means being a constant culture producer, even when you don't have anything to say. If I owned an individual television station? It would be a different story. However, the outrageous fees charged for licensing demands that community stations go as commercial as they can - so they can pay their employees, their bills, and buy back their license when they need to. It's a catch-22. Makes me feel vaguely itchy. But that's just me. -=$aint Vitu$=- --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: Saint Vitus Subject: Re: Your own network Date: Thu Aug 24 05:24:49 CDT 1995 Message number: 7 Reply to message number: 6 SV> SV> Really, there is no way to "own" a network, without being "owned" in turn SV> your sponsors. Being a network means being a constant culture producer, eve SV> when you don't have anything to say. So considering the problems in the current system of licensing and regulation, how could it best be changed to allow more variety in the network broadcasts and affiliates? --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: SAINT VITUS To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: Your own network Date: Thu Aug 24 11:44:54 CDT 1995 Message number: 8 Reply to message number: 7 DR> So considering the problems in the current system of licensing and DR> regulation, how could it best be changed to allow more variety in the netwo DR> broadcasts and affiliates? I hate to say this, but the current system is not anywhere near flexible enough to bend to the kind of change it really needs. The whole idea of selling spectrum to the highest bidder really isn't Constitutional in my opinion. I don't think large scale capitalism can ever allow true freedom. And there's no petition to sign or box to check that can change that. Only direct action can. -=$aint Vitu$=- --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DARKSHINE To: All Subject: Pirate Date: Thu Aug 24 21:01:39 CDT 1995 Message number: 9 Reply to message number: 8 All this talk of television and pirate radio makes me curious: Have there been any pirate television staions? |05 . ś . ś . |05 ®(š=-Darkshine-=š)Æ |05 ł . ł . ł --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: SAINT VITUS To: Darkshine Subject: Pirate Teevee Date: Fri Aug 25 10:17:12 CDT 1995 Message number: 10 Reply to message number: 9 D> All this talk of television and pirate radio makes me curious: Have the D> been any pirate television staions? Television traditionally hasn't been as flexible a medium as radio - you need much more equipment, higher powerlevels, and most people won't drag their Zenith console out of the living room and drive it within your range.to watch. However... one never can tell what might be coming... ;) -=$V=- --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: All Subject: Electronic Town Square Date: Mon Aug 28 08:54:12 CDT 1995 Message number: 11 Reply to message number: unavailable subj: The superhighwy to the electronic shopping mall. from: shel@MTN.Org to : Daedalus Rising on : Mon 28-Aug-1995 12:14a The following was submitted to the Minneapolis Start Tribune as a possible commentary on the editorial page on August 7. They have not published it, so here it is: ........................................................................... The Superhighway to the Electronic Shopping Mall: But where is the electronic town square? by Sheldon Mains Disney is buying ABC; Westinghouse is buying CBS (including WCCO-TV); US West owns 25 % of Time Warner and Time Warner bought Paragon Cable. Congress just voted to allow Cable TV companies to provide phone service and phone companies to provide cable service. The industry is talking about the electronic super highway to the electronic shopping mall. Saga will let you play games over the cable TV system. Cable TV companies have systems to let you order from shopping channels by just pushing some buttons on your remote control. According to the TV advertisements, you will be able to order any movie they want, whenever you want. The changes will let us be super electronic consumers. So why am I uneasy? Well, these changes in telecommunications could make life easier. And they will probably help the bottom line of a lot of corporations--maybe even save some jobs. But we would be loosing a great opportunity if these were all benefits the changes in telecommunications and computers bring us. Instead of just using the technology to make it easier to for us to be consumers, these changes could allow us to use information technology to improve communities and our democracy. What the media companies propose would make it easy for you to shop from home, bank from home, and be entertained at home. But no one will know their neighbor. Over the years we have already lost some of our forums for communication. The market in the town square and corner store were where new ideas were discussed; where people met their neighbors every day. With the invention of home refrigerators, we lost the need for the town market and the corner store. With the invention of radio and television, we started getting the news of our community and of the world reported directly into our homes. Window air conditioners and television have eliminated the front porch. We are forced to create events like National Night Out to get people to meet their neighborhoods. We lost connection to our neighbors. We lost communications within our communities. Lets stop and think about how the new communications technologies could help our communities. Lets talk about how to improve communications between our communities. Will there be an electronic town square to go with the electronic shopping mall? One basic concern is that democracy only works when many voices can be heard. The new telecommunications systems need to give everyone the ability to speak their mind. Citizens, community groups, artists, nonprofit organizations, politicians need to be able to tell their own stories. They need to be able to do so without being filtered by reporters, producers or editors. The information superhighway could give communities that now have no voice a chance to be heard. It could allow the North Side of Minneapolis to show their Juneteenth community celebration to everyone, not just the few cable subscribers that saw it on the local public access cable channel. It could allow the people of the Powderhorn Community in South Minneapolis to show that their neighborhood is not just drive-by shootings, that it can be a good place to raise a family. For this to be possible, there are some basic requirements: The system has to be available to every one in every community; There needs to be capacity set aside for free use by citizens, governments and nonprofit organizations; The equipment needed to tell the stories has to be available for use at a reasonable cost; and, Ttraining on how to use the technical equipment and on how to best get the story told needs to be provided. These communications systems will be built in our public rights-of-way and use our public air waves. We have the right to require some public benefits from the corporations that want to use them. When a suburban housing developer proposes a new subdivision we require that he provides the roads, the sewers, and public spaces. Why can't we require the communications corporations provide some electronic town squares to go with their electronic shopping malls? When James Madison wrote the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, he wanted to insure that no one group controlled speech in the United States. The information superhighway can not be a system that just allows you to buy things or pick movies through your TV remote control. It needs to be a system that fosters real two way communications, not just one way broadcasting. The system can not be just driven by corporate needs. It has to take into account community needs. The system has to include some places to build communities--some public parks--not just private shopping centers. . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . > . sheldon mains shel@mtn.org minneapolis, minnesota usa censorship is boring --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FROGGY To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: Electronic Town Square Date: Mon Aug 28 09:22:33 CDT 1995 Message number: 12 Reply to message number: 11 DR> The Superhighway to the Electronic Shopping Mall: DR> But where is the electronic town square? DR> by Sheldon Mains DR> Interesting point of view, although I disagree with some of the reasons he vives for being isolated and not knowing your neighbors. Part of the problem is what he has already mentioned -- that television has controlled what people do and how they think for a long time. Now there is a movement to put even that television in fewer hands. I hope they publish the piece (want to make any bets?) --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: SAINT VITUS To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: Electronic Town Square Date: Mon Aug 28 17:36:49 CDT 1995 Message number: 13 Reply to message number: 11 DR> The following was submitted to the Minneapolis Start Tribune as a possible DR> commentary on the editorial page on August 7. They have not published it, DR> so here it is: I am raising my fist in solidarity with that viewpoint. I've never been one for the "electronic town hall" gimmick, but access to technology and media for people of all classes and backgrounds is an idea that vibrates me like the Liberty Bell. Damn. BTW: During the last "2000 Flushes" gig, we received several calls from listeners (and played them on the air) that talked about the blacklist and censorship policy of the "Letters to the Editor" section of the Strib. Apparently, the Star Tribune has a tightassed bunch of commissars watching all communiques. Certain people are ignored. Others have been selectively edited, so as to remove key ideas. Something to watch for. -=$aint Vitu$=- --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: Froggy Subject: Re: Electronic Town Square Date: Mon Aug 28 22:29:32 CDT 1995 Message number: 14 Reply to message number: 12 F> I hope they publish the piece (want to make any bets?) The Strib has a vested interest in making sure that "cyberspace" is anything but what Sheldon Mains describes in his letter. Their "Star Tribune Online" is corporate and commercialized and they also have a vested interest in keeping the newspaper business strong. Speaking of the Star Tribune Online, they have some enteusiastic supporters in the Minnesota House. Too bad most of those Representatives wouldn't know the difference between America Online and Dissent (except for the scale and lack of mouse icons) if it jumped up and bit them on the ass. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: Saint Vitus Subject: Re: Electronic Town Square Date: Mon Aug 28 22:32:35 CDT 1995 Message number: 15 Reply to message number: 13 SV> I've never been one for the "electronic town hall" gimmick, but access to SV> technology and media for people of all classes and backgrounds is an idea t SV> vibrates me like the Liberty Bell. Damn. Agreed. But community access at places like libraries is expensive, and also not very politicaly feasible in the age of less government social services. Better to hook up to 500 Cable channels and sit back as a captive consumer than to stretch out and reach other thinking, cogent human beings. SV> Apparently, the Star Tribune has a tightassed bunch of commissars watching SV> communiques. Certain people are ignored. Others have been selectively edite SV> so as to remove key ideas. Something to watch for. Not surporising. But as we all know thanks to our benevolent governor, the Strib is a bastion of liberalism. They must be editing out all those conservative letters, eh? --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: CAPTAIN TEEBO To: DARKSHINE Subject: Pirate Date: Tue Aug 29 06:27:18 CDT 1995 Message number: 16 Reply to message number: unavailable Da> All this talk of television and pirate radio makes me curious: Da> Have there been any pirate television staions? As far as I know there have never been any actual television "stations," or ones that we're on the air for any significant amount of time. There are however pirate broadcasts, there has been (and can be) anything from the nationwide "consumer anouncement" to a local with a pirate television transmitter. *teebo ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 [NR] --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FROGGY To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: Electronic Town Square Date: Tue Aug 29 06:40:21 CDT 1995 Message number: 17 Reply to message number: 14 DR> Speaking of the Star Tribune Online, they have some enteusiastic supporter DR> in the Minnesota House. Too bad most of those Representatives wouldn't know DR> the difference between America Online and Dissent (except for the scale and DR> lack of mouse icons) if it jumped up and bit them on the ass. DR> Unfortunately this king of ignorance exists in the federal Congress too, and is in part the origin of things like the Exon bill. Fortunately there are a few who do really know what'd going on and we need to cultivate them. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: The Invisible Man To: Saint Vitus Subject: Re: Pirate Teevee Date: Tue Aug 29 11:48:18 CDT 1995 Message number: 18 Reply to message number: unavailable SV> Television traditionally hasn't been as flexible a medium as radio - SV> you need much more equipment, higher powerlevels, and most people won't dra SV> their Zenith console out of the living room and drive it within your range. SV> watch. Hell, wouldn't it be a lot more practical to by a plot of land, make an ampitheater there and brodcast ? It'd probably be of similar cost. --- Renegade 11-23a * Origin: [6i2] 688-9i02 t.r.o.t.f art/modding/conspiracy/text (95:612/101) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: All Subject: The Media Monopoly Date: Tue Aug 29 14:53:03 CDT 1995 Message number: 19 Reply to message number: unavailable I have recently been perusing a book called "Manufacturing Consent" by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky. This book details how the media, though not ourightly controlled or censored by anyone, often does an excellent job of parroting the official line of the U.S. Government and non-leftist agendas. In this sense, the media primarily includes newspapers, magazines, TV and radio. There are 5 lines of "defense" that a stories must pass through. Each may require a bit of explanation; I'll be posting the other 4 in later posts. If you care to chine in and add your own points .. even contradictory ones ... feel free. This network isn't owned by Time/Warner, after all :) ---------- The first filter is the size and expense of most news media operations. I recall from history class that during the time of the French Revolution, for example, Paris alone had several hundred newspapers. During the latter part of the 19th Century and the beginning of this one, the costs associated with running a newspaper expanded enormously. Other, newer forms of media are even more expensive (due to licensing requirements for one thing). Thus, the owners and managers of these media outlets were ever more likely to be non-working class people and would be less likely to represent the interests of the working class. The further concentration of media power in the last few decades has only made theis situation worse. Not only does media power tend to be concentrated in fewer media conglomerates, but many media organizations are now owned whooly or partly by corporations with an agenda of some sort. So, the first filter works in this way: The wealth required to become a major media outlet precludes many working class views from ever seeing the light of day. Large companies have a vested interest in ensuring that their views are represented. This becomes even more pronounced when a non-media company owns part or all of a media organization; as an example of this, I would suggest that you would have great difficulty in funding news items critical of nuclear power and weapons in America on MBC Nightly news ... or now, even CBS news because both are owned by comapnies that make a great deal of money from the nuclear power/weapons industry. While this is a vast simplification, it's a start .. and I hope to see others chime in with their ideas and opinions. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: All Subject: Re: The Media Date: Thu Aug 31 07:28:39 CDT 1995 Message number: 20 Reply to message number: unavailable Re: The media ... posted in E_mail, moved to this base with permission because it fits the topic at hand ---------- Well, they've basically been parasites since the founding, although there have been a very few artists who really did create *art* when they made videos. Trent Reznor for example; the video for "closer" is exquisite. Even if I didn't like his music, I'd still watch it and go "wow." On the whole though, MTV just leeched off the public, a bit like the fashion "industry"(which should be euthenized). This has only intensified in recent years with all this "alternative" bullshit that gets trundled out in 6-minute packages of incoherancy and nonsense. Basically I'm angry at them because they've packeged the idea of youth rebellion and sold it for a profit. I'm even angrier at the *bands*, because they're the ones who actually consented to do the things. I'm not saying that there's anything "sacred" about youth(or any other) kind of rebellion, but they've basically muted the voice that once had something to say, made it start blabbing ad slogans and jingles. What's even stupider is that they're making bands with very little talent in superstars by using a formula: guitars, "angst"-ridden lyrics, grubby clothes, quirky name = "instant hit!" It's incredible. Bands like Better than Ezra who obviously deserve to be boiled in week-old diarreha get made in stars overnight; I've heard their album. It's crap! It sounds like a studio record! The amount of control the media has over us is akin to Minitru, I think. If Ted Koppel came on and said that aliens had landed and opened negotiations with the American government, people would just say to themselves "well, if it's on the news, it *must* be true." To draw another 1984 parallel, take television. It's common. Hell, it's *everywhere*. Almost every home in America has one, even the poor ones(through programs like "rent to own"). Kids sit in front of the damn things an average(meaning there are kids who do it more)28 hours a week, and if big business could get them there all the time(less the time it takes to buy stuff), they would. We're raising our children to be little more than consumers, when we should be raising them to be scholars, thinkers, artists, mathemeticians and scientists. What have we got? Beavis and Butthead. I'm also not proposing that television be turned into a bunch of intellectual wankery; explosions and jokes are fun, in moderation. But somewhere along the line(the 70's?) TV turned into teevee, and it's screwed us in terms of a future. In the "Information Economy", there's so little REAL DATA being moved around except between corporate boardrooms that we've got a populace of uninformed people, and we wonder why the only thing we do well any more is fight wars. What continually astonishes me is that the current situation came about partly of the public's will, back when advertising was first coming out. People didn't *have* to buy the products advertised, but being unexposed to ads, they were bowled over. I suppose that's the "color-TV generation". By the time the next generation rolled around, they had all become loyal consumers, and their kids saw them consuming, and are emulating them right now. I personally am part of what should be the second-generation consumers. I'm not. I *hate* watching television. It depresses me. Most of all, I hate big companies, which control most of the advertising. "All that's really great Brian, but so what?" Here's what: they control the situation. They ARE the media. When Disney bought that other network, it scared the SHIT out of me because they had become a real mediacorp, right out of Bruce Sterling. If corps don't outright own stations, they can withdraw their funding from certain stations. In short, they can control what's seen on teevee by threatening the networks with cash withdrawal. Suppose I started talking about my views in public. It would be "difficult", to say the least, for me to reach anyone, because they control the primary medium that people actually *listen* to these days. On top of that, if any stations ran anything related to me, the corps could just quietly stop buying ad space and the studios would take a hit. They're in a position of power, they know it, and they're ready and willing to smash anyone who threatens to reduce their clout. Since this is turning basically into an essay, I think I'll officially #ranton and start talking about solutions. This is a real problem. There are ways around television for getting data to people, but the first, print media, is extremely slow. It's far to slow to keep up on what's going on, at any rate. Magazines like Newsweek actually manage it somehow(I suspect magic), but at the cost of an incredible amount of natural resources. Yes, I know trees will grow back, but running a printing press takes energy. We've only got so much coal, so much uranium, so much of this, so much of that. Basically print media is not only becoming obsolete with the developments of technology, it's eventually going to be *impossible* in a practical sense. Okay...radio. Radio's neat. With comparatively little in terms of resources used, it's a fast method of moving information around. It has drawbacks, though. First of all, without some pretty spiffy handling, it can't deal with images, optical data. Also, it's limited by the speed of a radio wave. Admittedly, that's pretty fast, almost the speed of light, but radio waves can diffuse over distance, and thus you have a range problem. The next option is digital communications, which actually has some promise. It can move at the speed of light(it doesn't right now, but it *can*), it can handle images, it can handle just about anything when routed through a computer. The drawback to this is that building computers requires natural resources too, but there's a chance in hell of getting away with this one. Mining other places, to be specific. The Moon has enormous potential. It can reduce the number of people living on Earth, it can be mined, etc. It also requires pretty fancy engineering and information technology to be made useful. The same is true of other places. I won't go any further into that, because it requires a lengthy discussion about the convergence of technologies and I don't have the time. Basically, the only viable way to circumvent teevee altogether is through digital communications; in practical terms, the Internet. I know I sound like some lame optomistic futurist, but it's the only way out that I can see. Interesting how the exercise of freedom there has come under a lot of fire these days, innit? Which brings me to another point: I know we'll never get rid of television. But for Christ's sake, let's GET BUSINESS OUT OF POLITICS! Stop letting corps contribue lavish sums of money to Candidate So-and-So's campaign. Stop letting special interest groups have their way with our leaders. This has gone too far and gotten ridiculously out of control, and if we want to actually have a country worth living in, we've got to make changes. I'm not saying I Have the Answer here; this only one of many things that should happen, in my opinion. Ugh...#rantoff --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: Briareos Hecatonchires Subject: Re: The Media Date: Mon Sep 04 06:22:39 CDT 1995 Message number: 21 Reply to message number: 20 BH> Basically I'm angry at them because they've packeged the idea of youth BH> rebellion and sold it for a profit. But there's nothing new to this; it's only been taken to the extreme recently. BH> are raising our children to be little more than consumers, when we should BH> raising them to be scholars, thinkers, artists, mathemeticians and BH> scientists. What have we got? Beavis and Butthead. Good point; television not only teaches people to be passive, it also teaches them to be consumers. What I despise is that "online services" are turning into more of the same - an easier way to buy the new Calvin Klein jeans you saw on TV or on the ultra-hip WWW page. DR> What continually astonishes me is that the current situation came about DR> partly of the public's will, back when advertising was first coming out. Advertising is the second "filter". A magazine/newspaper that takes ads will be able to sell their product at a reduced rate and invest in new equipment, as opposed to a non-advertized manazine or newspaper. Thus, the one with advertizing will always have the advantage. And as we can all guess, once you sell out to the advertizers you've lost a bit of your objectivity. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FROGGY To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: The Media Date: Mon Sep 04 07:21:01 CDT 1995 Message number: 22 Reply to message number: 21 BH> are raising our children to be little more than consumers, when we should BH> raising them to be scholars, thinkers, artists, mathemeticians and BH> scientists. What have we got? Beavis and Butthead. DR> DR> Good point; television not only teaches people to be passive, it also DR> teaches them to be consumers. What I despise is that "online services" are It also teaches them to be angry rebellious, and destructive. There isn't much commercial value to peace, love, building, caring for each other, etc. People want to see car chases instead. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: Froggy Subject: Re: The Media Date: Mon Sep 04 07:41:28 CDT 1995 Message number: 23 Reply to message number: 22 F> It also teaches them to be angry rebellious, and destructive. Ther F> isn't much commercial value to peace, love, building, caring for each other, F> etc. People want to see car chases instead. Do they "want" to see car crashes, or is this simply something they have grown addicted to - that thing being commercial pablum masquerading as culture? --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BRIAREOS HECATONCHIRES To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: The Media Date: Mon Sep 04 13:18:38 CDT 1995 Message number: 24 Reply to message number: 20 DR> But there's nothing new to this; it's only been taken to the extreme DR> recently. Yeah, but still...it's gotten to ridiculous proportions here. Every day I wonder what kind of world I'm going to be living in when I'm 20. When I'm 25, when I'm 30... It scares me. Either things will turn Orwellian fast, Gibsonian fast, or things will sort of putter along and we'll get a resurgence of REAL rebellion and the punk rock ethic. DR> Good point; television not only teaches people to be passive, it also DR> teaches them to be consumers. What I despise is that "online services" are DR> turning into more of the same - an easier way to buy the new Calvin Klein DR> jeans you saw on TV or on the ultra-hip WWW page. It's revolting and absurd. Another thing that doesn't help is the labeling of anything even remotely connected to information technology "cyber-". First off, we DON'T have cyberspace right now. We haven't even got virtual reality worth a damn. And yet the public perception is that either we've got it already, or that it's just over the hill. I can't help but think that we're seeing some fundamental aspect of human nature in action here, something in our being that gauges a person's worth by how much STUFF they have. It's preposterous! DR> Advertising is the second "filter". A magazine/newspaper that takes ads wi DR> be able to sell their product at a reduced rate and invest in new equipment DR> as opposed to a non-advertized manazine or newspaper. Thus, the one with DR> advertizing will always have the advantage. And as we can all guess, once y DR> sell out to the advertizers you've lost a bit of your objectivity. I'm going to read that book. I know it's by Noam Chomsky, but what's the title? --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: Briareos Hecatonchires Subject: Re: The Media Date: Tue Sep 05 04:21:47 CDT 1995 Message number: 25 Reply to message number: 24 DR> Advertising is the second "filter". A magazine/newspaper that takes ads wi DR> be able to sell their product at a reduced rate and invest in new equipment DR> as opposed to a non-advertized manazine or newspaper. Thus, the one with DR> advertizing will always have the advantage. And as we can all guess, once y DR> sell out to the advertizers you've lost a bit of your objectivity. BH> BH> I'm going to read that book. I know it's by Noam Chomsky, but what's the BH> title? Manufacturing Consent by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky. Quite honestly, I can only recommend the first few chapters of the book. The rest of the book goes into an *incredible amount of detail on the media's reporting techniques and goes to prove their bias. Like many Chomsky works, it becomes overkill. BH> "cyber-". First off, we DON'T have cyberspace right now. We haven't even BH> got virtual reality worth a damn. And yet the public perception is that BH> either we've got it already, or that it's just over the hill. But when we do, AT&T will bring it to you. For a reasonable fee, of course. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BRIAREOS HECATONCHIRES To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: The Media Date: Sat Sep 09 07:12:04 CDT 1995 Message number: 26 Reply to message number: 25 DR> Manufacturing Consent by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky. Quite honestly, I DR> can only recommend the first few chapters of the book. The rest of the book DR> goes into an *incredible amount of detail on the media's reporting techniqu DR> and goes to prove their bias. Like many Chomsky works, it becomes overkill. Great, thanks. I'll get it once I have a chance(and some money). I'm rather glad he proves his point; it's awfully easy to just point to something and say "looka here, looka what this does", but if you haven't any evidence, people will laugh you off. DR> But when we do, AT&T will bring it to you. DR> DR> For a reasonable fee, of course. Thanks, but no. I think it's time to start buying up Carribean islands and set up a data haven. ;I --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BRIAREOS HECATONCHIRES To: All Subject: "Cyberpunk" Date: Sun Sep 10 18:48:16 CDT 1995 Message number: 27 Reply to message number: unavailable Since this is something I feel pretty strongly about, I grabbed this from the Compu$erve main screen: GS> Are You a Real Cyberpunk? GS> GS> (10-Sep-95) GS> GS> You've got your challenging headgear, leather jacket, telltale GS> smirk, and cruel boots, but are you a real cyberpunk or just GS> lame? There's only one way to be sure: Talk to the experts. GS> GS> This month, the experts are in the Book Preview Forum. Join Jude GS> Milhon (that's St. Jude to you), R.U. Sirius, and Bart Nagel, GS> authors of "Cyberpunk Handbook: The Real Cyberpunk Fakebook" GS> throughout September in Message Section 17, "CYBERPUNK HANDBOO GS> K." Exchange messages with the cyberpunk trio about the book, the GS> cyberpunk subculture, and even why using the word "cyberpunk" GS> proves you're not a cyberpunk. If you are extremely hip, or just GS> want to be, there's no better place for electronic surfing. Feel GS> free to bring your laser pointer. GS> GS> To read an excerpt from "Cyberpunk Handbook: The Real Cyberpunk GS> Fakebook," check out the file CYBER.TXT in Library 17, "CYBERPUNK GS> HANDBOOK." GS> GS> To access the Book Preview Forum, GO PREVIEW. Gee, do you think the concept of cyberpunk has been corrupted at all? Jesus christ, it's not a counterculture for people to latch onto so they can feel "rebellious"! It's become a goddamned cliche' because of the media! It's on sale! --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: All Subject: Mickey Mouse operation Date: Fri Sep 15 17:52:14 CDT 1995 Message number: 28 Reply to message number: unavailable Ä Area: Alt.Conspiracy ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Msg#: 392 Date: 31 Jul 95 11:56:39 From: Matt Drudge Read: Yes Replied: No To: All Mark: Subj: DRUDGE REPORT CODE RED 7/31; DISNEY OWNS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ From: drudge@lainet.com (Matt Drudge) Subject: DRUDGE REPORT CODE RED 7/31; DISNEY OWNS WORLD or Roseanne to wed Mickey Mouse Organization: DRUDGE REPORT XXXXXXXXXXXX DRUDGE REPORT CODE RED XXXXXXXXXXX MOVED 07/31/95 11:25:49 AM PDT Hollywood, California USA Reported by Matt Drudge CODE RED HOLLYWOOD (DR)--The WALT DISNEY CO. announced just moments ago that it will buy CAPITAL CITIES/ABC Inc. in a $19 billion transaction. DISNEY is now in every household in America. Payback? In the 1950's ABC helped Mr. Walt Disney finance the original DISNEYLAND theme park. In the mid-50's ABC had a show called DISNEYLAND -- in return for the use of the name 'Disney' -- ABC put up a nice slice of the 'start-up' money for the theme park. Zoom up 40 years -- the two meet again -- in what has to be the birth of 'The world's largest entertainment company.' Fax machines all over town started spitting out the 'birth-bomb' shortly after dawn here in the Los Angeles basin. MICKEY TO WED ROSEANNE ...PETER JENNINGS TO STAR IN PULP FICTION PT. 2....on and on the smart ones went. Bigger question: Are we in trouble? The NEW YORK TIMES reported in their Sunday edition that `in the early 1980's 46 companies in the world controlled most of the global business in daily newspapers, magazines, television, books and movies. By 1990, the number was 23.' We are now down to 22 companies controlling the world's images. How long until we are down to 10..to 5...3...1! Do we really want the world being viewed through 22 pairs of cracked-glasses. Don't the people own the airwaves! NEW WORLD ORDER NEWS...this is Cokie Roberts! The DISNEY announcement is coming 'ambush' style. We just got off of the phone with a high level ABC executive who knew nothing of the sale until just moment ago. (They come at night..They knock your door down..they tell you all about your new home...you will have great new parents...Eisner will love you like you are his own...NOW CLEAR YOUR DESK AND REPORT TO MAGIC MOUNTAIN!!!) Our mint-fresh press release states: Eisner will head the company. Capital Cities Chairman and CEO Thomas Murphy will relinquish his title and join Disney's board, while Robert Iger will continue in his role as president of Capital Cities. This is Eisner's finest hour. He may just have become the most powerful man in the world. (Bill Clinton and Ted Turner must be freaking-out.) What power the mountains hold. It was a July 20 meeting at a mountain resort where Eisner and ABC head Tom Murphy fell in love. Questioned on ABC's GOOD MORNING AMERICA -- Eisner described the meeting: "I literally passed Tom Murphy in Sun Valley on the street ... and said, 'Tom, I think the time is right now. Every part of your company is working. Every part of our company is working.' " Murphy's reply was a simple OK, Eisner said. Quick, sweet and painless. 'The circle of life' can be yours -- as long as Disney blood is pumping in your veins. I am off to TACO BELL to stuff my face on at least several dozens tacos (Does Eisner own TACO BELL also?) I will face the wall and cry as the hot sauce drips down my chin. I will think of the child-porn movie KIDS -- and how Eisner signed-off on the production of it. I will think of the total rape of my love Pocahontas -- and how Eisner whore-merchandised her out to any John (for the right price.) A storm is forming off of the coast of Florida -- soon to be Hurricane Erin. Could it be that the storm is heading right towards Orlando? Is nature about to turn Eisner's DISNEY WORLD/EPCOT compound into scraps of metal? Has nature come to bring Eisner back down to 'fragile-man' status. No way, Eisner is control of the heavens also. XXX XXXXXXXXXXXX DRUDGE REPORT CODE RED XXXXXXXXXXX ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send all comments or subscription requests to: drudge@lainet.com The DRUDGE REPORT is filed when circumstances warrant. Check: http://www.lainet.com/~drudge for letters to the Editor, polling updates and news flashes. DRUDGE DAILY service coming soon (c) Matt Drudge 1995 not for reproduction without permission of the author --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: FROGGY To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: Mickey Mouse operation Date: Fri Sep 15 19:39:45 CDT 1995 Message number: 29 Reply to message number: 28 DR> Fax machines all over town started spitting out the 'birth-bomb' shortly DR> after dawn here in the Los Angeles basin. MICKEY TO WED ROSEANNE ...PETER DR> JENNINGS TO STAR IN PULP FICTION PT. 2....on and on the smart ones went. DR> Well, Mickey would probably be an improvement over the men she has chosen. Too bad Elizabeth Taylor didn't think of it first . Nah, Jennings doesn't know enough about violence . --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: Briareos Hecatonchires Subject: Buy Nothing Day Date: Sun Oct 01 12:24:01 CDT 1995 Message number: 30 Reply to message number: 27 Adbusters Magazine adbuster@wimsey.com BUY NOTHING DAY POINTS TO MEDIA BIAS "The issue of First World overconsumption is systematically ignored by the media," says Kalle Lasn, one of the organizers of the Buy Nothing Day campaign, "because our society's information delivery systems are largely controlled by commercial interests and they want us to consume more, not less." On September 24, thousands of people around the world will say "bye-bye" to buying as part of International Buy Nothing Day. The event, in its fourth year, is an attempt to draw attention to what many groups and individuals believe is the primary environmental problem in the world: overconsumption by people in the affluent, industrialized west. Lasn, publisher and editor of Adbusters magazine, has first-hand experience with the mass-media's commercial bias: he has repeatedly been denied the right to purchase advertising time on American and Canadian TV networks for "uncommercials" that question North America's consumer culture. International Buy Nothing Day is the brainchild of Vancouver, B.C. artist/activist Ted Dave. He started it as a "gesture of protest for those of us who feel as if our lives and dreams have been marketed back to us." The concept has spread worldwide - first to the U.S., then Ireland and England, and recently the Netherlands and beyond. "We want people to think about how they spend their money," explains Allan MacDonald, a campaign organizer at the Media Foundation. "We also want them to think about the way products are advertised." "Shouldn't we not be concerned about the effects of alcohol and tobacco advertising? Shouldn't we be concerned about ads that continue to objectify women? If so," MacDonald says, "this day is about reminding people that they have the power, as consumers, to make change." "The people living in the industrialized G-7 countries (roughly 20% of the world's population) consume 70% of the world's resources; pump out two-thirds of the greenhouse gases; release 80% of the CFCs and 65% of the sulphur and nitrogen gases," Lasn says. "Our consumptive way of life is poisoning the air and water, sucking the life out of oceans and forests and draining the spirit out of our personal and cultural lives. And yet, our TVs, radios, magazines and indeed our whole business culture keeps urging us to buy more." "We challenge the world's wealthiest people to jump off the consumer treadmill on September 24... to snub their noses at the $200-billion a year advertising industry and the forces that urge us to consume beyond our needs," Lasn says. "We invite them to take a trip inside themselves and face the anxieties and inner emptiness that often drives consumptive lifestyles." BUY NOTHING DAY GOES INTERNATIONAL In Canada, Buy Nothing Day will kick off the week of September 18 with a nationwide TV campaign airing on CBC Newsworld. The campaign will urge Canadians to "Give It a Rest" on September 24, because the average Canadian already consumes twice as much as a Japanese person, five times more than a Mexican, 15 times more than a Nigerian and thirty times more than a person from Bangladesh (World Resources Report 1994-95). In the U.S. the campaign will be taken to the shopping malls (or, as they put it, "the meccas of over-consumption where the First Worlders pray") by Wetlands Preserve. * Contact: James Hansen, Tel: (212) 966-4225, Fax: (212) 925-8715. Earthwatch in Ireland and a group in Manchester, England calling itself Enough, will celebrate Buy Nothing Day by taking to the streets and launching a new soft drink called HAPPINESS TM. * Contact: Paul Fitzgerald, Tel: (44)161 237 1630; Fax: (44)161 228 2347. In the Netherlands Buy Nothing Day will be organized by Omslag (Breaking Point) a Workshop for Sustainable Development. Their celebration will include clowns, artists, and guerrilla theatre at the biggest shopping mall in the country. * Contact: Dick Verheul, Tel. +31-4194-1622; E-mail omslag@aps.n1 The Culture Jammer's Campaign Headquarters, Adbusters' new web site, is http://hoshi.cic.sfu.ca/adbusters, and has a downloadable version of the Buy Nothing Day poster, as well as information on how to order broadcast quality video for public access/community airing. For more information, camera-ready artwork, or a VHS copy of the TV campaign call: Allan MacDonald, Media Foundation (604) 737-6021 --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Lest tyrrany consume us all (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BRIAREOS HECATONCHIRES To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: Buy Nothing Day Date: Fri Oct 06 17:17:26 CDT 1995 Message number: 31 Reply to message number: 30 DR> BUY NOTHING DAY DR> POINTS TO MEDIA BIAS I read that. What a great idea! If only everyone would actually do it! The problem then is idiots who say "But I *need* that fourth leather jacket." ARG! I CAN'T STAND THIS! THE WORLD JUST SUCKS! This will pass, sorry folks. :( --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Polit/X-Writing-Philosophy (612)450-6297 (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: Briareos Hecatonchires Subject: Re: Buy Nothing Day Date: Fri Oct 06 19:03:18 CDT 1995 Message number: 32 Reply to message number: 31 BH> I read that. What a great idea! If only everyone would actually do it BH> The problem then is idiots who say "But I *need* that fourth leather jacket BH> ARG! I CAN'T STAND THIS! THE WORLD JUST SUCKS! "But I need that 12-oz can of Mountain Dew to wake up in the morning!" Maybe we can all just boycott Microsoft for a year instead :) While on the topic of large corporations, it seems that another company will be joining the illustrious ranks of Disney. Soon, Blockbuster video will have its own independent county in Florida as a base for their corporate headquarters. All heil the reign of the immortal corporation. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Polit/X-Writing-Philosophy (612)450-6297 (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: BRIAREOS HECATONCHIRES To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: Buy Nothing Day Date: Sat Oct 07 18:53:45 CDT 1995 Message number: 33 Reply to message number: 32 DR> "But I need that 12-oz can of Mountain Dew to wake up in the morning!" Heh. ;) This a joke Daed made to me, for those who don't know. I converted someone away from consumerism while drinking Dew, and he pointed out that I was a hypocrite. Well, yeah. It's guilty pleasure. DR> Maybe we can all just boycott Microsoft for a year instead :) I'll drink to that. Let's see how Bill likes it when there's chains keeping him out of his office. DR> All heil the reign of the immortal corporation. It reminds me subtly of the way the Church was treated in the Middle Ages, except then they could burn you if you disagreed. Or throw you and a few thousand others at their enemies and then interdict you. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Polit/X-Writing-Philosophy (612)450-6297 (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: All Subject: On the rocks Date: Thu Oct 12 09:24:37 CDT 1995 Message number: 34 Reply to message number: unavailable Quote from today's Star Tribune business section: "In the clearest sign yet that its partnership with U.S. West is on the rocks, Time Warner Inc. accused the telephone company of `fraudulent, reckless or negligent conduct'. This reminds me of a couple of schoolyard bullies antagonizing each other, and their mother (the paper) trying to play it down. Who said milti-billion dollar media conlomerates don't have a sense of humor? --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Polit/X-Writing-Philosophy (612)450-6297 (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: CAPTAIN TEEBO To: Daedalus Rising Subject: Re: On the rocks Date: Thu Oct 12 10:22:55 CDT 1995 Message number: 35 Reply to message number: 34 DR> "In the clearest sign yet that its partnership with U.S. West is on the DR> rocks, Time Warner Inc. accused the telephone company of `fraudulent, What is the partnership for? *teebo --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Polit/X-Writing-Philosophy (612)450-6297 (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: Captain Teebo Subject: Re: On the rocks Date: Sat Oct 14 11:55:31 CDT 1995 Message number: 36 Reply to message number: 35 DR> "In the clearest sign yet that its partnership with U.S. West is on the DR> rocks, Time Warner Inc. accused the telephone company of `fraudulent, CT> CT> What is the partnership for? Deregulation ... the phone companies trying to get into the cable business and vice versa. It gives a whole new meaning to the idea of "media monopoly", because the definiton of media keeps expanding. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Polit/X-Writing-Philosophy (612)450-6297 (95:612/100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: DAEDALUS RISING To: All Subject: Media "Fairness" Date: Sun Oct 22 06:28:13 CDT 1995 Message number: 37 Reply to message number: unavailable From: eskinews!nyxfer.blythe.org!nyt (NY Transfer News Collective) Date: Sat, 21 Oct 1995 04:50:24 -0400 (EDT) U.S. journalists reject code that called for fairness in reporting (c) 1995 Copyright The News and Observer Publishing Co. (c) 1995 Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (Oct 15, 1995 - 18:01 EDT) -- An ethics code promoting accuracy and fairness in the media sounds like something journalists would readily approve. Delegates to the Society of Professional Journalists' annual convention this weekend found it to be otherwise. A provision saying journalists should try to present both sides of an issue was rejected after some of the more than 200 delegates, particularly editorial writers, advocacy journalists and on-line writers, said it would hamper their writing. Also rejected was a proposal condemning the acceptance of awards from potential sources. Delegates "felt that accepting an award would not necessarily cloud your objectivity," Kevin Z. Smith, SPJ's ethics committee chairman, said Saturday. Narrowly preserved was the proposed code's statement that journalists should never manipulate quotations, photos or headlines in ways that might materially alter the meaning. Magazine writers argued unsuccessfully for an exception saying that it wouldn't be unethical to alter news photos for satirical or artistic reasons, as long as the manipulation wasn't deceptive. But rather than accept the updated ethics code, which was last revised in 1987, they sent it back to SPJ's ethics committee for further study before the 14,000-member group's convention outside Washington, D.C., next year. The delegates tabled the changes mainly because they said they didn't have enough time to study them, even though the proposals appeared in the July issue of Quill, SPJ's magazine, Smith said. Smith, who teaches journalism at Miami University of Ohio, said he was surprised there was so much debate about the provision saying journalists should try to present both sides of an issue. "I think, as working journalists, that's one of the things that's standard procedure," he said. Delegates also agreed to add sexual orientation to the ethics code, saying journalists should avoid perpetuating stereotypes regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity and social status. There was little debate about the proposed code condemnation of gifts, favors, speakers' fees and special treatment from sources. The 1987 code simply says nothing of value should be accepted by journalists. Still, Smith was frustrated that the new code wasn't approved, especially since a task force had worked on the revisions since last year's convention. The society's 14,000 members include educators and students, as well as professional journalists. Another organization, the Associated Press Managing Editors, updated its 1975 Statement of Ethical Principles a year ago. That statement addressed new issues such as technology, plagiarism, community involvement and diversity. The American Society of Newspaper Editors adopted a mission statement last year but declined to adopt an ethics code. --- Renegade v10-05 Exp * Origin: Dissent: Polit/X-Writing-Philosophy (612)450-6297 (95:612/100)